Beautiful. No other word can describe the game.
Today, the Netherlands demonstrated all that is good and beautiful in the sport of soccer. After the Oranje’s comprehensive, 3-0 victory, Euro 2008 officially kicked off. And to have it come at the expense of the Italians - so much the better.
Constable Echelon
(Quickly I just want to big up Hotdog again for his first rate Euro previews here at H&F. It’s some of the best content we’ve ever had in my estimation. They make the tournament more fun to follow, and that’s what this whole thing is supposed to be about.)
Deadspin’s soccer writer David Hirshey announced last week that he is leaving the worldwide blogging leader for ESPN. On that post one of the commenters expressed their displeasure with the WWL’s practice of “announcing” Euro games via remote from Bristol. That seemed a little disingenuous to me, so I’d like to gauge public opinion.
Fig Jam
For weeks now we have been wondering who to blame for this debacle of a Mariners season. Today we got our answer. Jeff Pentland. You’re goddamn right it’s this guy’s fault. Apparently he was the hitting coach for the Mariners and is the obvious reason that the team is 19 games below .500 and boasts the worst record in the league. From here on out, you can expect the Mariners to be a run producing machine.
Fig Jam
So here’s what I have learned so far about Euro 2008 (after having watched virtually every game. Thank you DVR for being invented):
1. Sucks to be Austria and Switzerland today. Austria especially deserved better than their 1-0 loss to Croatia.
2. Really sucks to be Poland and have 2 guys who were born in your country, but somehow play for Germany, beat the crap out of you. I remember this being a big deal at the last world cup (Podolski and Klose), but I had forgotten about it until they combined to provide all of Germany’s offense against the hapless Poles.
3. Along those lines, I have learned that where you were born has absolutlely nothing to do with which country you play for. Especially if you were born in Brazil. If you were born in Brazil, you are definitely welcome on most any team currently playing in “Euro” 2008. The announcers in the Croatia/Austria game were mocking this system as well, at one point asking of the German team, “were any of those guys born in Germany,” before going on to comment on how Ireland is also famous for accepting foreign players. “If you drank a pint of Guiness you are qualified to play for Ireland,” was my favorite quote.
4. Germany, even with its questionable lineage of players, is ridiculous. The ball movement and ability to control possession is just awesome.
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